Inexcusable Absence: Overcoming Exclusion in Girls’ Education

Marlaine LockheedCenter for Global Development

CIES Gender Symposium, 2007

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 2

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 3

Schooling trends are improving in the developing world

Girls’ schooling has traditionally lagged that of boys, but girls are catching up

Socially excluded children still lag Socially excluded girls are the least likely to

go to school Countries with many socially excluded groups

are at risk

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 4

Gender parity in primary enrollments rose between 1960 and 2000

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 5

But 60 million primary school age girls were out of school in 2000

Region Girls out of school

(‘000s)

% from

excluded groups

Sub Saharan Africa 23,827 75

South Asia 23,552 67

Middle East & N. Africa 5,092 33

Latin America & Caribb. 1,497 99

East Asia & Pacific 4,870 90

E. Europe & Central Asia 1,583 90

Total 60,421 71

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 6

Most out-of-school girls come from socially excluded groups

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

World SSA SA MENA LAC EAP ECA

PercentExcluded

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 7

Who are the socially excluded groups?

Stigmatization Ethnic differences Low status “Involuntary” minority status

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 8

India: Rural SC/ST girls least likely to be in school, 2001

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15-19 Age

Majority Urban Male Majority Urban Female

Majority Rural Male Majority Rural Female

SC/ST Rural Male SC/ST Rural Female

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 9

India: Rural SC/ST girls least likely to be in school, 2001

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15-19 Age

Majority Urban Male Majority Urban Female

Majority Rural Male Majority Rural Female

SC/ST Rural Male SC/ST Rural Female

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 10

Laos: Hill tribe girls complete fewest years of school

Urban-Male-Lao-Tai

Urban-Female-Lao-Tai

Rural-Male-Lao-Tai

Rural-Female-Lao-Tai

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60

Age

Average years of schooling

Rural female- Other

Rural-Male-Other

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 11

Laos: Hill tribe girls complete fewest years of school

Urban-Male-Lao-Tai

Urban-Female-Lao-Tai

Rural-Male-Lao-Tai

Rural-Female-Lao-Tai

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60

Age

Average years of schooling

Rural female- Other

Rural-Male-Other

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 12

Guatemala: Indigenous girls in are least likely to be enrolled in school

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 13

Guatemala: Indigenous girls in are least likely to be enrolled in school

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 14

Gaps in enrollment, attainment or completion for excluded girls

Nigeria 35% lower probability

Pakistan 30-55 percentage points lower

Slovak Republic 45 percentage points lower

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 15

Heterogeneity and male-female differences in primary school completion rates

Argentina

Armenia

Bangladesh

Benin

Bolivia

Botswana

Brazil

Bulgaria

China

Comoros

Cote d'IvoireEthiopia

Fiji

Guatemala

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Iran Kenya

Lao PDR

Lesotho

Liberia

Morocco

Namibia

Palau

Papua New Guinea

PhilippinesRomania

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Turkey

Uzbekistan

-20

02

04

0P

rim

ary

com

ple

tion

ra

te, m

ale

- fem

ale

0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1Ethnolinguistic fractionalization

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 16

The Challenge: Getting and keeping disadvantaged children in school

In all countries disadvantaged children lag behind in school, and girls do so disproportionately: Enrollment Completion/Graduation Performance

But, excluded girls go to school, stay in school and do better than boys when given the opportunity

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 17

Quechua girls outperform Quechua boys in 5th grade, Peru 2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Reading Math

Quechua Girls

Quechua Boys

Urban Girls

Urban Boys

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 18

Indigenous girls outperform indigenous boys in Ecuador

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Grade 5 Math

Indigenous Girls

Indigenous Boys

Nonindigenous Girls

Nonindigenous Boys

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 19

Why does heterogeneity have this effect? Discrimination in the labor market

Reduces motivation Discrimination in access to school

Increases direct, indirect and opportunity costs of schooling to families

Lowers school quality Discrimination within schools

Reduces opportunity to learn Expectations and “stereotype threat”

Lowers performance

Source: Lewis and Lockheed 2006 20

Success is possible, with targeted interventions Examples from developed countries

New Zealand, Canada Examples from developing countries

Chile, Bangladesh, India